All PSVs will be installed with upgraded speed governors capable of remitting real-time data to the National Transport and Safety Authority servers from March 1 next year.
NTSA director general Francis Meja yesterday released guidelines for manufacture, importation and installation of the new gadgets, which will help the authority monitor speeding vehicles.
He was accompanied by Kenya Bureau of Standards acting managing director Nguyo Bernard and Charles Nzuka, chief mechanical engineer in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, at the NTSA offices in Upper Hill.
The device – Standard KS 2295:2018 – is a new technology that relays to NTSA real-time information on speed, movement, location, driver and the sacco to which a vehicle belongs.
The new speed gadgets will be a requirement for vehicles weighing at least 3,048 tonnes. PSV operators will either upgrade their current speed governor to the new standards or buy new ones. Meja did not state the cost of the gadgets.
He said the rollout of the technology will help the authority to identify PSVs driven without governors and take action, averting accidents that might be caused by speeding.
The director general said the new device will also help NTSA profile rogue drivers who have been tampering with speed governors and driving beyond the limits, resulting in casualties.
“It has been difficult for us to monitor speeding vehicles because of manipulation of the gadgets, especially by some drivers,” Meja said.
“With the upgraded device, we will be able to monitor the vehicles in real time and take appropriate action against those driving beyond the limits.”
Meja said the technology will be linked with the smart driver’s licence recently rolled out by the authority.
He warned those who manipulate the speed limiters they will lose their licences.
“We will be dealing with accidents caused by speeding in a more proactive manner because we shall be able to see speeding vehicles and take action before an accident happens,” Meja said.
The director general said the implementation of the new device takes effect on December 1, but matatu operators have been given three months, until February 28, to either upgrade current speed governors to the new standards or instal new ones.
The government in April 2014 ordered all public service vehiclesto instal speed governors in a bid to curb speeding, which has resulted in many road accidents.
However, the purpose of installing the gadgets has been defeated as most operators have been manipulating them.
“Some of the drivers have switches that they put on when the police are around to show that they are using speed governors. But when the police are not around, they switch them off and they drive at the speed they want,” Meja said.
Those seeking to supply the new gadgets must get approval from Kebs and the NTSA to ensure they deliver quality and tamper-proof speed limiters.
“The revised speed limiter requires a supplier to meet laboratory tests requirements,” Meja said.